Here another new product I heard about what do you think?

http://www.interlockkit.com/

I have something similar on my panel. The idea seems to be sound but the user is responsible for load management.

I am not sure what they want for this one but the guy who sells a similar product on the internet wants $150 for it, a lot of money for a dime's worth of metal.
I suppose the listing process is expensive.

Greg,

Good Morning! I don't know how much they are selling for, but the HO wants to install this item himself. It will be his responsibility ( and he knows this) too make sure that he doesn't overload his gen. when he hooks it up. However he feels that he will save a lot of expense by not installing a transfer switch and full size stand by gen. He will use a small portable gen, with and outside receptacle to plug his portable gen into and back feed his panel.

For me, it wasn't the expense of the transfer panel as much as just how hard it would be. My generator inlet is on the other side of the garage to keep the noise and fumes away from the house and the circuits I wanted to serve are in the house sub panel. The service disconnect is in the garage.
I went through the panel and indicated which circuits I want on the generator and I will turn the rest off.

I’ve put a couple of that brand of Interlock kit in and they worked great. They are much less expensive than a separate generator priority panel and transfer switch or one of those overpriced Gen-Tran transfer panel setups and the customer also has more control over load selection.

Someone asked me if they were listed and labeled and I didn't have the paper work in front of me. I think I remember seeing a listing for them, but I am not sure.

From the FAQ on the web site

I have two (2) permit apps in now for installs with an item similar to this, may even be this brand. Both are by ECs.

The load shed issue will be a learning experience for the HOs when they wonder why the OCP on the 7KW portable gen trips.

Hey, John;

Maybe you should leave them with a DVD copy of the Green Acres episode where Oliver's got numbered cords on all the appliances and is trying to explain to his wife that "You can only plug in up to a 7".

LOL

I'm going to pass this suggestion on to the EC!!!

That is actually not that bad an idea. You might want to make the magic number the safe load on the generator and the cords/breakers labeled with the average cruising amperage.

Guys:
I would love to go that route....but I'm not the EC!!!

How about the Green Acres DVD being included with the interlock??

John,

I just from another friend (and AHJ) of mine It seems that lab Wyle Labs have just lost their testing lab NRTL label. Go to this link: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=22157

and see what OSHA has to say about them.

As Scooby Doo would say, Ruh Roh! ...I noticed in the document that they specified the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.7 were not met, but don’t seem to specify which test procedures or products and as of what date they were not in compliance, so I’m wondering if this could somehow affect equipment that Wyle Labs tested previously that has already been installed or is currently in warehouse inventory or is it just anything from beyond the date of their NRTL revocation. Could product recalls be in the cards?

Harold:
Going thru the links...that's a lot of reading. Short skim looks like they lost NRTL ststus for everything that they may touch. (Fire extinguishers, electrical equip., tools, etc.

I'll keep my eye out for anything with their logo/label, and pass this on.

FWIW, I can't recall seeing anything with their name on it.

Maybe in this case NRTL means Non Recognized Testing Agency?

John,

Yeah, here I thought I found something good, that was listed and inexpensive, only to find out that they lost their NRTL label. Ruh Roh is right. Next time I guess I will just keep my mouth shut and hands off the keyboard!

There are still a number of interlock kits like this out there including the ones sold by the panel manufacturers.
When you see the price of the OEM you start suspecting that they are the ones who blow the whistle on cheaper competition.
It is less than a dollar's worth of sheet metal and not exactly rocket science engineering. The money is in getting the NRTL stamp.

If this thing was substantially mounted and positively interlocked the two breakers, I would not have any trouble approving it. My time would be spent looking at the rest of the generator install.

I agree, that it is an efficient way to install a generator with out a lot of fuss. Next time someone shows me pictures of what they want to install, I guess I will have to dig deeper to make sure that it is still listed.

If you are digging, you should find out which products they didn't really test.

It’s too bad because the InterLockits are a decent product and it’s the tish faces at Wyle that got paid to provide the needed credentials that have screwed them over.
A few years back, I installed one of these on a SQD QO panel and it worked perfectly, but as you can guess, SQD has since issued a notice about how using these devices from other manufactures on their panelboards will void their warranty. No surprise that SQD now offers a very similar interlock switch pre-installed as a listed assembly on some of their panelboards… at a premium price. I really don’t understand this BS because the only electrical component is the circuit breaker that is being backfed from the generator and that comes directly from the panelboard manufacturer themselves anyway. You have to assume the whole thing was only about SQD being miffed that they weren’t getting a bigger piece of the pie.

The operative word in 110.2 is "approved". 90.7 gives you the assurance that if a NRTL lists an item you don't have to inspect it further but there is nothing that says the AHJ can't approve an unlisted device if it is inspected and deemed safe. That is really why we have 90.4